Opening ceremonies for District 13 tournament tonight

Jaydon Smith, batter, gets out of the way of inside pitch during
a recent practice for the Ahwatukee Little League Majors.

By Jason P. Skoda, AFN

Brock Burton, left, tags out a runner on play at second base for
the Ahwatukee Little League Majors at a recent practice.

By Jason P. Skoda, Ahwatukee Foothills News

Third base man Josh Wunnenberg, right in the distance, watches
his throw to first baseman Brendan Rice at a recent practice for
the Ahatukee Little League Majors.

By Jason P. Skoda, Ahwtukee Foothills news

Joel Adamson, right, talks to the Ahwatukee Little League
11-year-olds during a recent practice.

By Jason P. Skoda, AFN

Ahwatukee Little League's Jaydon Brooks takes a pitch at a
recent practice for the Majors team that beings play Wednesday
night.

By Jason P. Skoda, AFN

Rocky Kern is doing his best to keep a singular focus on the
District 13 tournament, but there is only so much he can do.

He can't confiscate DVDs, erase DVRs or go all Leonardo DiCaprio
in "Inception" and plant ideas within the dreams of the players on
the Ahwatukee Little League Majors roster.

With this age group the Little League World Series is always
hovering like a chaperone on a first date and no matter how that
date with destiny is going the thought of Williamsport, Pa., is
always prevalent.

"I have talked to them about the single goal of making the
semifinals of the district tournament," said Kern, manager of the
ALL Majors. "That is our focus. Truth is, I don't think Ahwatukee
(Little League) has made it out of districts since 2006 so we can't
get ahead of ourselves, but it is hard.

"They have last year's Little League World Series on DVD and
they get together to watch it. It's good to have that as a goal,
but we have to know there is a lot of work to do before and that
can be something we can really think about."

The road to Williamsport starts Wednesday night.

It begins with the District 13 Tournament's Opening Ceremonies
at 6 p.m. at Tempe Sports Complex, followed by the ALL Major's
first game of the tournament at 7:15 p.m. against Chandler
American.

The Majors tournament, which is for 12 year olds, goes until
July 14 with the champion heading to north regionals in Flagstaff.
From there, it is on to Tucson for the state champion and a berth
to West Regionals in San Bernardino, Calif., which is one step away
from the LLWS.

Clearly a lot has to come together to make such a journey and it
starts with bonding these all-stars who have been together only
since mid-June.

Part of being an elite player is being able to adapt quickly to
any situation.

"We have to bond as a team and we've been doing that," third
baseman Logan White said. "We've had everyone over to my house to
use our batting cage and have some fun."

The Majors receive the most attention but the ALL also has teams
in the 11-year-old and 9- to 10-year-old tournaments as well.

Former major league pitcher Joel Adamson, manager of the 11s,
said getting the team chemistry is essential to success.

"It's about picking each other up, just hearing, ‘Get 'em next
time,' from a teammate when they are down goes a long way," Adamson
said. "If you can play as a team and give 110 percent then you have
a chance. If those things don't come together pretty quickly it
makes it tough."

Adamson's team went to Tuesday's Diamondbacks against the
Cleveland Indians to help with the bonding process.

"We need to reward them for all of the hard work they've been
doing, go have some fun and see how the big guys do it," Adamson
said.

The Majors have a good mix of players, who were on last year's
11-year-old squad, some players from the same (Sandlot) club team
and new faces, many of whom are new to Little League after playing
Pony League in previous years.

"I switched leagues because I wanted a chance to go to the
Little League World Series," said infielder Brock Burton, who
played in the Pony League last season. "I remember seeing other
teams from Arizona make it and I wanted to be part of it."

Kern said the transition has gone pretty well, but that he won't
know for sure until the games are played.

"We have a lot of athletes," Kern said. "We are going to put
pressure on the opposition with the speed we have. The thing we
have been talking to them about is pitching and defense. Our
offense, I think, will take care of itself, so if we can match that
with good pitching and defense we have a shot at making the
semifinals and from there anything can happen."

The ALL Majors never got that chance last year as five of the
six teams went 4-2 in round-robin action, meaning the four teams in
the semifinals advanced on tiebreakers and the team left out was
ALL.

"We are focused on this first tournament," said shortstop Jaydon
Brooks, who also played Pony in previous years. "If we don't play
good there then we won't have a chance to go anywhere else and we
all want to keep playing all summer."

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